After Spain manipulated, tempted and sliced the Austrian press into neat sections on Thursday night, it was difficult to apply much focus on the fact that Unai Simon had set an all-time World Cup record on the same night. The 520 minutes he went without conceding was a record for any goalkeeper in the past 96 years of tournaments, nudging ahead of Italian Walter Zenga by just two minutes, the headline statistic after Spain ended a surreal 16-year wait for a knockout win at the World Cup dating back to the 2010 final, equalling Italy and Switzerland as the only sides to go five games without conceding.
The reason it was so hard to pay any attention to Simon’s record, is that he basically hasn’t done anything to achieve it. In La Roja’s four outings so far, he’s faced six shots on target, none of which particularly taxing. One of two sides yet to concede with Mexico, when Sasa Kalajdzic’s flying header sailed over the bar a few minutes into the second half, it was significant. To date, it was the only real chance from open play that Spain have conceded.
Understandably, much of the focus has been on Spain’s struggles to find the rhythm, tempo and invention that have characterised the side since Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal made it their own at Euro 2024. Perhaps it has been a product of a slightly more conservative use of the ball, knowing that a game of open spaces is not as beneficial to La Roja as it was previously, but there is no escaping the fact that this is the best Luis de la Fuente’s outfit have defended since he came to the job.
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— Selección Española Masculina de Fútbol (@SEFutbol) July 2, 2026
For the opposition, the sense of vulnerability, that keeping Spain quiet was more important because a goal was within reach, has dissipated. As per Opta, the only area of the pitch where the opposition have more than 55% of touches of the ball is in their own box. Despite averaging over 68% possession, Rodri ranks 9th for tackles (13), Aymeric Laporte has made the joint-fourth most…
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